Dry cleaning apparatus



May 26, 1953 M. F. Hur-:BSCH ET AL DRY CLEANING APPARATUS lO Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 4, 1949 H. @zum v {72. A ATTORNEY-5 mv BY May 26, 1953 M. F. Hur-:BSCH ET Al.

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS 10 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 4, 1949 May 26, 1953 M. F. Hur-:BSCH ET AL DRY CLEANING APPARATUS.

10 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 4, 1949 FIG. 4

MM2/ig ATTORNEYJ May 26, 1953 M. F. HUEBscH ET AL 2,639,516

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 4, 1949 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 C I d' FIG. 5

M A mma ATTORNEYS May 26, 1953 M. F. HuEBscH ET AL 2,639,516

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 4, 1949 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG.

May 26, 1953 M, F. HuEBscH 'E1-AL 2,639,516

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 4, 1949 10 Sheets-Sheet 6 w ID g m l0 05 O5 C0 O q. w (D IO 0D 1' IN O5 g lo m Q LL E5 (D O" [/VVENTORS 1am f. l @L ATTORNEYS May 26, 19,53 M. F. HUEBSCH ETAL DRY CLEANING APPARATUS 10 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Feb. 4, 1949 May 26, 1953 M. F. HUEBSCH ET AL 2,639,516

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Feb., 4, 1949 10 Sheets-Shea?l 8 ATTURNEYS May 26, 1953 M. F. HUEBscH ET Al. 2,639,516

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 4, 1949 10V Sheets-Sheet 9 MLLUJ;

May 26, 1953 M. F. HUEBSCH ET A1. 2,639,516

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 4, 1949 10 Sheets-Sheet l0 FIG. I6 FIG. l5

' /VVE TORS wk. D e

ATTRNEYJ Patented May 26, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRY CLEANING APPARATUS Monte F. Huebsch and Albert H. De Moss, Fox Point, Wis., assignors, by mesne assignments, to The American Laundry Machinery Company, Cincinnati, Ollio, a corporation of Ohio Application February 4, 1949, Serial No. 74,57 6

6 Claims. l

The invention relates to dry cleaning apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for drying` materials which have previously been treated with an inflammable cleaning solvent.

The main object of the invention is to provide controls for the apparatus which makes it impossible to open the door of the drying tumbler when heat is being introduced therein to safeguard the operator against injury from any possible explosions of the iniammable cleaning solvent as a result of its being heated. Heretofore drying tumblers have had thermostatic controls associated with the tumbler door lock to prevent opening of the door, but such controls do not satisfy absolute safety requirements because a certain time interval always elapses before the thermostat is eiiective, and during this time in terval accidents may occur. According to the present invention, the opening of the tumbler door is prevented as soon as heated air is admitted to the drum and before the thermostatic control can be effective to prevent opening of the door.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation view of a drying apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation View of the drying apparatus, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 4 is a top plan View of` the apparatus;

Fig. 5 is a detailed vertical sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a circuit wiring diagram;

Fig. 7 is a detailed vertical sectional view through a box containing part of the control mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a detailed horizontal sectional View taken on the line 8--8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing certain modifications;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation view of the device shown in Fig. 9, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 1l is a detailed front elevation view of control means shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. l2 is a detailed vertical sectional view taken on the line I2-I2 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a top elevation View of the control means shown in Fig. 11;

Fig. 14 is a detailed vertical sectional View taken on the line Ill-I4 of Fig. 13;

Fig. 15 is a detailed vertical sectional View taken on the line I5-I5 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 16 is a circuit wiring diagram.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 8, the drying apparatus includes a housing I8 mounted on a base I9 and within which the usual perforated drying drum or tumbler 20 is mounted, said housing having a cylindrical opening 2l at one end closed by a door 22 hinged to said housing at 23 and carrying a locking handle 24 pivoted on the door at 25. The front end of the tumbler 20 has an access opening 26 into which a portion 2l of the door projects when in closed position. The back end of the tumbler 20 is provided With a shaft projection 28 mounted in bearings 29 in the housing and by which said tumbler is supported for rotation in the housing. An electric motor 30 has its drive shaft 3l connected by suitable clutch mechanism including a clutch shifting lever 32 with reduction gearing in a housing 33, the output shaft of which (not shown) carries a sprocket (not shown) connected by a chain 34 with a sprocket 35 keyed to the shaft 28 whereby the tumbler is continuously driven while the motor 39 is operating and the clutch is engaged. The shaft 3| also has a direct connection with a shaft 36 carrying a suction fan 3l mounted in a fan housing 38 in the base I9 and provided with an outlet 39 and with an inlet communicating with the housing, the fan being continuously driven by the motor 30.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, the housing I8 has a hood or extension 40 Which has side air inlet openings 4I controlled by shutters 42, each of said inlet openings having a plurality of steam heated coils 43 therein over which the air passes as it is drawn into the housing I8 by the suction action of the fan 3l, the air passing through the housing and through the apertured tumbler 20 where it comes in contact With the material to be dried and being expelled through the outlet 39. The coils 43 are supplied with steam from a suitable source of supply under the control of a suitable shut of valve but heated air is not supplied to the drum unless the shutters 42 are in an open position.

Each shutter 42 depends from a base plate 44 that is slidably mounted in the hood 49 and has a part 44 slidably guided on horizontally disposed guide rails 45 in said hood. A manually operated lever 46 projects through a slot 41 in the hood and is pivotally connected intermediate its ends at 48 to a xed support 49. Beyond the fulcrum 48 the lever carries a pin 50 working in a channeled bracket 5| fixed to one of the shutters 42 and in front of the ulcrum said lever carries a pin 52 working in a channeled bracket 53 xed to the other shutter so that shifting said lever toward the left as viewed in Fig. 1 causes the shutters 42 toV move inwardly toward each other to allow passage of air through the openings 4| past the coils 43.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the door locking handle or latch 2li is adapted to 'be engaged with a keeper 54 by swinging said handle upwardly to a position where its outer end 55 will pass through a slot 55 in said keeper and then swinging said handle downwardly the end 55 moves vupwardly through a vertical slot in said keeper to the locked position shown in Fig. l. With the door, in a locked position the latch 24 may be locked against movement to door opening position by a retainer member 5l moved by said latch and slidably mounted in the keeper and adapted'to engage the latch inits lockedrposition 'to prevent its'mo'vement. The retainer member 5l is held in its locking and release positions by a flexing wire cable 5d connecting'it with'a control lever 59, see Fig. 7..

Referring to Fig. l, the motor 30 is supplied With operating current through a starting switch provided with the usual start and stop buttons 6| and 62 and is shown in Figy connected with a three phase current supply from which conductors 83 and 64 lead, the door lock Control mechanism including a relay operated pivoted switch member 95, one terminal of which is connected to the conductor 93. The other conductor 64 connects with one side of therelay coil B6. The circuit'throughA the coil 66. is completed by a conductor 6l. connecting the other side oi coil 96. with the conductor 63, said conductor 6l having a switch 08 therein whose operating member G9 vis engageable with a projectiony on the part 44. of one of the lshutters 42'when the shutters are closed so that opening ofthe shutters 42. permits the switch G9 to close.

The control mechanism includes what we term a cold solenoid 69 and a hot solenoid l0. The coil offthe cold solenoid is energized by passage of current from conductor 54. through conductor LI toits coil and then through conductor 'l2' and switch 65 in the position shown in l3.ig.'6v to the conductor 53. AThe coil of. the hot solenoid is energized by passage of. current from the con'` ductor t4 through conductor i3 to its coiland then through conductor 1.4 and switch 65, which is contacting with contact l5. by the closing of the switch 68. A thermostatically operatedY switch 'i9 has a conductor ll connected with conductor 63. and a conductor 'F8 connectedwiththe coil 6.6 so that closing ofthis switch 16, also Icompletes a circuit through the coil 5.6. to hold. the switch 65 in hot. solenoid energizing position.

Referring to Fig. 7, the solenoids 69 and '1.0. are mounted in a box '39. and have plungers 80. and 8|. which pass through apertures 82 in a plate 83A which is carriedby a vertically movable rod 8.4 operatively connected at its upper end85 with a weighted lever Svpivoted at8'l. The plate 83A may be lifted by either of the plungers 80. or 0|. The lever 59Y is pivotally mounted. on the box. at 88 and is prevented from being moved by the Cable 5,8., to permit unlocking of the. doorlath, by.. a. blocking lei/er 8.5i pivotant'. mounted inthe, blQX at 99. and provided. with. a projection. 9.1. dis,.- DQSgd 111 the path 0i. movement of. the. roller. Carrying. eed Orsai@ lever me itsdoorunlgdeing position. Lever 89 also has a projection 92 which is operatively connected with the headed bolt 93 at the lower end of the plunger 80, so that when the cold solenoid 69 is energized to raise its plunger 80, it will also raise the lever 89 to a position where it will not interfere with the swinging oi th lever 59 and the movement of the cable 58 and the retainer 5T to "aposition in which the door latch 24 may be released from its keeper. The only time, however, the cold solenoid is energized is when switch G8 is opened, the' 'shutters' 42 are closed and the thermostatic switch 19' is open. The plunger 8| of the hot solenoid 'l0 also carries a headed bolt 94 at its lower end. The' bolts 93 and 94 on the raising of their plungers are Aadapted to engage and raise the plate 8 3 to its upper position shown in Fig. '1. The movement of either plunger raises the plate 83@ When the plunger 80 of the cold solenoid raises the plate 83, it is held in its raised position by' a gravity actuated strut or latch 95 hinged or pivoted at so that deenergization of the cold solenoid will not cause said plate to fall. But when the hot solenoid is energized, the head of bolt 94 engages the raised plate, one of the ends of this bolt 94 engages the upper end of the latch 95 and swings it out and holds it out of engage-F ment with the plate 8.3 so that when the hot sole,- noid is on the plate is free to fall. 'Until the plunger 8| is raised, it engages a part of the` latch 95 so that its weight acts to hold said latch upright but permits the cold solenoid raising said plate until said latch 95 may. engage. beneath it as shown in Fig. '7. In the normal'cycle of op @rations due to the overlap of the relay contacts. the plunger- 80 oi the cold solenoid will pull up before the plunger 8| of the hot. solenoid drops, thus supporting the plate 83 and permitting the latch 95 to engagesaid plate.

The Weightedlever t6` is used to operatel a trip mechanism that acts on a rod 9] which is connected to the. slotted end 9.8. of a lever 99 (See Figs. l and 3) pivoted at |00 on the frameof the machine. A weighted leverY |0| pivoted at |02 has a projection |03 that normally hooks into slotted end 98. of thel lever 9,9 to hold the weighted lever |0| in the elevated position shown in Fig. 3. A spring |04 acts, to` 'move the rod 91, and the parts connected therewith upwardly so that when the trip` mechanism is released, the upward movement of rod Ell.` swings lever` 99 'up wardly and thereby. releases lever lill from it which then drops strikinga trip lever. |05 Which is operatively. connected to a toggle lever con: nection |06 with the stem of a steam iiooding valvev |01 which controls the, flow of steam through a pipe |08` toA the. interior. of the housing |8 in which the tumbler. 20 is. disposed. Downward movement of.. the trip leverv |05 unlocks or breaks the toggle levers |09 and opens thev stem valve ||l`|A to 'flood the tumbler` with steam. This action occurs Whenever., the, plate 83. drops down to release. the trip mechanism which mechanism (see Eig. 7') comprises. a leyer |09. pivoted atY |.|.0 and carrying the .rod 92|.l and normally urged by the spring |04. against a shoul- .der or latch l|| on a lever. H2 pivotedat H3,

said lever |,|.2. beingv normally urged to latching position by a spring |14. interposedbetween said lever and a side` of the box 19, The weighted lever or tripping memberv 8.6,; has. an arm. Ot Dto:

jection U5, which when said lei/er. Swings down as the plate 33. 9901.35, fngag-Q? it pin. U5; 09 1313.@ lever. |.|2acting againstI the spring l|c4i to release the latch I levdrv'llllgt.

mit the spring |04 to swing lever |09 upwardly and move the rod 91 upwardly to release the weighted lever |0I to operate the steam valve as above described. The rod 91 carries a knob ||1' whereby the operator may push down on the rod 91 to reset the trip mechanism above described.

With the above construction to start the drying, the motor switch 60 is operated to start the motor 36, thus putting the fan 31 in operation and energizing the cold solenoid 69 which raises the lever 89 out of its blocking position relative to the lever 59, the plate 83 being then in its raised position held by bolt head 93, with member 95 in position under it. The handle 24 on the door 22 may now be turned to release it from its keeper and in doing' this the retainer 51 engaged by the end 55 of said handle 24 is free to move with it, thus pulling on the cable 58 and swinging the lever 59 to the right from the position shown in Fig. '7. The door 22 may be swung u to open position and the tumbler 20 loaded and the door again locked shut. In swinging the latch 24 back to a locked position the retainer 51 is moved upwardly by the latch, thereby moving the cable 58 to swingv the control lever 59 back to the position shown in Fig. 7. Rotation of the loaded tumbler 20 may then be started by shifting the clutch lever 32. Thereafter, the lever 46 is moved toward the left as viewed in Fig. l, thus opening the shutters 42. With the shutters open the projection on the part 44 of one of the shutters is free of switch operating member 69 and switch 68 closes, thereby energizing coil 66 of the relay operated switch and shifting switch member 65 from conductor 12 to contact 15, thereby energizing the hot solenoid 10, the energization of these solenoids overlapping so that the plate 83 will remain in raised position until the plunger 8| releases latch 95 and takes on the duty of holding plate 83 raised. However, as soon as solenoid 69 is deenergized, plunger 89 drops carrying lever 89 down to a blocking position so that lever 59 cannot swing to a position that will permit movement of the latch 24 to open the door. Thus while the hot solenoid is on the door 22 cannot be opened. The door being closed, the drum or tumbler 20 revolving and the shutters 42 being opened, the heated drying air drawn into the drum by the ian 31 past the coils 43 contacts the material and vaporizes the inflammable cleaning fluid which is thus carried oir" through the exhaust 39. As soon as the temperature of the air is sufficient to operate the thermostat T projecting into the hood 46, its switch 16 closes and remains closed until the temperature in the housing again drops to a point at which switch 16 will open. While closed, switch 16 takes over the duty of switch 68 to complete the circuit holding switch member 65 in a hot solenoid energizing position, and since plunger 80 and lever 89 are down, lever 59 is blocked from movement so that door latch 24 cannot be operated to open the door 22.

If under operating conditions supply of current to the motor should fail, the hot solenoid will be deenergized and plate 83 will then drop operating the trip mechanism and its associated mechanisms above described to open the steam flooding valve |01. on a resetting of the trip lever the steam valve |01 may be closed by moving the lever |05 upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 3 to break the toggle joint of the toggle levers |06. Current failure also prevents unlocking of the door 22 since lever 89 is then down in its blocking position preventing lock release movement of lever 59.

Toward the end of the drying operation the shutters or dampers 42 are again moved back to closed position, thus permitting switch 68 to open, but until switch 16 is released, switch 68 and its circuit is not effective so that the cold solenoid 69 is not energized to raiselever 89 to a non-blocking position until the temperature has dropped suiciently to cause switch 16 to open and thus permit the shifting of the switch member 65 from hot solenoid energizing position to cold solenoid energizing position. When this occurs'and lever 89 is raised by the plunger 80, the lever 59 can then be moved toward the right as viewed in Fig. '1 to permit unlatching of the door 22. With the switch member 65 in cold solenoid energizing position, the plate 83 as previously noted is prevented from dropping so that when current is cut oi either by closing of the shutters 44 and operation of switch 68 or by the opening of the motor circuit, the trips controlling the steam valve |01 will not be operated.

Referring to Figs. 9 to i6, the only diierence between this construction and the first described construction is that the dampers 42 have been omitted and in place of the damper controlled switch 68 an interlocking arrangement between the door 22 and a manually operable steam valve ||6 has been provided. Similar parts have been given similar numerals, and Figs. 7 and 8 are to be considered as a part or this modiiied form.

Referring to Figs. 9 to l5, the steam valve H6 controls flow of steam through a pipe l1 to piping i6 connected with the coils 43, said valve having its stem connected to a horizontally disposed rod H9 which is connected to a manually operated lever pivoted at |2|. A door latch retainer member |22 is the same as retainer 51 except that it has a projection |23 slidably extending through a slot |24 in the keeper 54 and connected to a vertically movable rod |25 which as shown in Figs. ll to lll connects with a locking block |26 slidably mounted in guides |21 in the support |28 for the lever |20. rlhe block |26 has a key hole slot |29 formed therein, and the valve rod H9 extends through` said slot |29 and is of two diameters, the small diameter |39 permitting sliding movement of said block |26 the length of the slot |29, and the large diameter |3| permitting sliding movement of said rod only through the larger portion |32 of the slot |29.

Referring to Fig. 16, the circuits therein shown are identical with those of Fig. 6 except that switch 68 and its conductors have been omitted.

The only other difference in construction is that the thermostat T has been moved to the opposite side of the hood 49 to accommodate the steam valve. i

The modified construction is operated, as follows: Throwing in the motor switch 60 starts the motor and allows current passage through conductors 63 and 64, switch 65 and conductors 1| and 12 and solenoid 69 which as in the rst construction lifts plate 83 to its raised position and also moves lever 89 to an unblocking position. The operator may then unlatch the door 22 by swinging the handle 24 upwardly until its end is in line with the slot 56 in the keeper 54 so that the door can be opened. The machine is then loaded but with the door open steam cannot be admitted into the coils i3 because in movement of the latch 24 to unlocked position its end 55 engages retainer |22 moving it downwardly and with it the rod |25 and block |26 presenting a narrow portion of slot |29 in the path oi' the rod |30 to bar or prevent movement of valve rod H9 to open the steam valve H6. Upon movement ci the latch 24 back to its latched position the retainer |22, rod |25 and block |26 are moved upwardly bringing the block |25 to a position in which the large opening |30 of slot |29 alines with part |3| oi rod lle so that said rod is now free to be moved to open the steam valve I6' by 'the outward pull of the lever |20. With the steam valve stem |3| in open valve position the retainer |22 cannot be moved, and consequently the latch 2s cannot be moved to an unlocked position. Thus as in the ilrst described construction, the door cannot be unlocked as soon as heated air is furnished to the drum. After the interval necessary to render the thermostat T operative to close its switch lt, the control current then acts as before to complete the circuit to the relay including coil E@ which then moves switch 55 into contact with contact 'l5 establishing current flow through the hot solenoid which functions as in the first construction to hold the plate 533 in an elevated position except that if current fails the plate 83 will drop and as previously described operate the steam ilooding valve |01. As soon as the cold solenoid is deenergized, the plunger t@ falls carrying the lever 89 to a blocking position relative to the lever 50, so that While the hot solenoid is on, the door latch 24 cannot be operated. Any other operations not specically mentioned in connection with the modified form are the same as those described in connection with the first form.

From the above it will be noted that in each instance means have been provided for preventing opening of the door 22 as soon as heated air is available to the chamber containing the tumbier loaded with the material from which the inflammable cleaning fluid is to be removed by :L

drying so that the door cannot be opened during the time interval that ordinarily elapses in order i'or the automatic thermostatic control to become effective to prevent opening of the door, thus safeguarding the operator against injury from possible explosions that might occur when the heat was on and the door was in an open position.

We desire it to be understood that this lnvention is not to be limited to any particular form or arrangement of parts except in so far as such limitations are included in the claims.

What we claim as our invention is:

l. In a drying apparatus having a housing provided with an av opening, a movable door for said opening, and manually operable latching means for said door, the combination oi blocking means for said latching means including a blocking lever, electrically operated means for moving said blocking lever out of blocking position to permit operation of said latching means, means @for circulating air through said housing, means for heating said air, operator controlled means for controlling the supply of heated air to said housing and means, operable as an incident to the operation of said control ineens, for render-ing said electrically operated means inoperative to move said blocking lever on the operation of said control means for the supply oi heated air to said housing.

2. Apparatus defined in claim l in which the admission of heated air to said housing is controlled by a damper and the electrically operated un vos means for moving said blocking lever out of blocking position is energized from an electrical circuit including a switch controlled by said damper.

3. ln a drying apparatus of the character described, the combination with a drying chamber having an access opening and a movable door for closing said opening, operator controlled means for locking seid door in closed position, means for circulating drying air through said chamber, and means for heating the drying air, of operator controlled means for controlling the supply of heated air to said chamber, and means operable as an incident to the operation or' said control means for preventing release of said door locking means as soon as said controlling means is operated to supply heated air to said chamber.

4. ln a drying apparatus of the character described, the combination with a drying chamber and means for circulating heated air through said chamber, means for heating the drying air, said chamber having an `access opening, a door movable to open and closed position relative to said opening, operator controlled locking means for said door, and thermostatically controlled means for preventing the operation of said locking means when the air in said drum reaches a certain predetermined temperature, oi operator controlled means for controlling the supply of heated an' to said chamber, and means, operable as an incident to the operation of said control means, for preventing the operation oi said locking means the operator after his operation of said heated air supply controlling means and during the time delay interval for the operation o1" said thermostat.

5. En a drying apparatus of the character described, the combination with a drying tumbler housing having a door movable to open and closed position, latching means for the door, means for circulating a current of air through the tumbler in said housing and means for heating said air as it passes to said tumbler, of operator controlled means for controlling the supply of heated air to said tumbler', means, operable on the operation of said control means, for preventing unlatching of said door, and means for rendering said last named means ineffective to permit unlatching of saidv door before said control means is operated.

6. The structure as defined in claim 3 in which the operator controlled means for controlling the supply of heated air to the chamber is a steam valve and its operator controlled actuator and in which the means operable as an incident to the operation of said controlling means for preventing release of the door locking means is a part secured to the door locking means and having an interlocking connection with the steam 'valve actuator.

MONTE F. HUE ALBERT H. DE MOSS.

References Cited in the file 0f this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re.. 17 ,336 McKenna June 25, 1929 2,217,153 Bowdoin et al Oct. 8, 1940 2,360,915 Vermilya Oct. 24, 1944 2,397,091 Davis Mar. 26, 1946 2,470,043 Monsarrat May l-O, 1949 

